Apparatus for treating material in web or sheet form



April 1969 H. VAN DENEND 3,440,737

APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIAL IN WEB OR SHEET FORM Filed May 22, 1967 Sheet of 2 INVENTQF HERBERT VAN DENEND ATTORNEY A ril 29, 1969 H. VAN .DENEND APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIAL IN WEB OR SHEET FORM Sheet 2 of2 Filed May 22, 1967 OOOOOOOO w mm 0 O O O W O O O O O O O O O O O QTTORNEV D mm #6 W 4, m am my N I. v 6 B 0 w om B 5. W H i 20 United States Patent Oflice Patented Apr. 29, 1969 US. Cl. 34-155 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for selectively treating widthwise zones of web or sheet material by means of an outer tube having a row of apertures therein for directing fluid onto the material and an inner tube rotatably mounted in the outer tube having rows of apertures therein for registering the outer tube apertures at dilferent widthwise zones.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to apparatus for treating web or sheet material with a fluid and, more particularly, to such apparatus which enables selected widthwise zones of the material to be treated.

The prior art Heretofore, there has been a need for treating web or sheet material with a drying or humidifying fluid or a chemical solution along the entire width of the material or selected widthwise zones thereof, but no satisfactory apparatus for accomplishing this purpose has been developed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for treating selected widthwise zones of web or sheet material with a fluid.

Another object is to provide such apparatus adapted to be readily adjusted to select the zones onto which the fluid is to be applied.

Another object is to provide such apparatus which has means for visibly indicating the widthwise zone where the fluid is being applied.

A further object is to provide such apparatus which is simple, practical and economical in construction, and is reliable in operation.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention the foregoing objects are generally accomplished by providing apparatus which comprises one or more heads for directing a treating fluid onto web or sheet material moved thereunder by a supporting and conveying arrangement, each head including an outer tube having an open end for allowing fluid to enter the same, a closed end, and a row of spaced apertures; an inner tube rotatably mounted in the outer tube having an Open end and a closed end respectively at the open and closed ends of the outer tube, and rows of spaced apertures at differently spaced locations arranged to register with the apertures of the outer tube, one of the inner tube aperture rows extending along the length of the outer tube aperture row, another of the inner tube aperture rows extending partially from one end of the inner tube towards the middle thereof, and another row of the inner tube aperture rows extending partially from the other end of the inner tube towards the middle thereof; and means accessible at the exterior of the closed end of the outer tube for rotating the inner tube to select the apertures of the inner tube to register with the apertures of the outer tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the'specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of one of the fluid applying headstaken along the line 2-2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end of the head as seen from the right of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 on FIG 2.

FIG. 5 is a developed plan view of the inner tube of the fluid applying head.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown apparatus which generally comprises a frame 10, a roller 11 at one end of the frame, a roller 12 at the other end of the frame, a belt 14 extending about the rollers 11 and 12 for supporting the material to be treated and moving the material in a lengthwise direction, and a motor 15 for driving the belt 14.

The apparatus further comprises a plenum 16 extending lengthwise at one side of the frame 10 and having an inlet 17 for supplying a fluid for treating the material, a plurality of lengthwise spaced heads 18 connected in fluid flow communication with the plenum and extending across the belt 14 for applying the treating fluid to the material, and a hood 19 enclosing the heads 18 and having an exhaust duct 20. The hood may be removably mounted on the frame 10 and may be constructed of transparent material, so that the material being treated can be observed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heads 18 comprise an outer tube 21 having an open inner end connected to the plenum 16 by a coupling 22, and having a closed outer end 24 and an inner tube 25 rotatably mounted in the outer tube and having an open inner end and a closed outer end 26.

The outer tube 21 has a row of spaced apertures 27 facing the belt 14 for directing the treating fluid onto the material conveyed by the belt for the full width of the belt.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the inner tube 25 has several rows of spaced apertures adapted to register with the apertures 27 and arranged to conduct treating fluid to the apertures 27 at varying widthwise zones with respect to the material being treated. Such an arrangement of rows of apertures comprises a row of apertures 28 extending for the entire length of the row of apertures 27, a row of apertures 29 extending from the left of the tube 25 for about one half the length thereof, a row of apertures 30 extending from the left of the tube 25 for about one quarter the length thereof, a row of apertures 31 at the middle section of the tube 25, a row of apertures 32 extending from the right of the tube 25 for about one quarter the length thereof, and a row of apertures 33 extending from the right of the tube 25 for about one half of the length thereof. The tube also has an imperforate zone 34 for completely closing all of the apertures 27 of the outer tube 21.

In order to rotate the inner tube 25, to vary the rows of apertures in registry with the apertures 27 of the outer tube 21, the closed end 26 of the inner tube 25 has a centrally located stem 36 which extends through an opening 37 in the closed end 24 of the outer tube 21, and an exteriorly accessible knob 38 is secured to the stem 36. As shown in FIG. 3, the knob has a pointer 39, and the closed end 24 of the outer tube 21 has indicia thereon for indicating which row of apertures of the inner tube 25 is in registry with the row of apertures 27 of the outer tube 21 and when the inner tube 25 is in its off position.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present invention provides an arrangement for applying treating fluid onto a selected widthwise zone of the belt which carries the material to be treated. The knob and the indicia enable such selections to be made in a rapid and accurate manner.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for treating material in sheet or web form comprising an arrangement for supporting and moving the material in a lengthwise direction; a plenum at one side of said arrangement extending lengthwise therewith for supplying a fluid for treating the material; a plurality of lengthwise spaced heads in fluid flow-connection with said plenum and extending across the material for applying the treating fluid to the material, said heads including an outer tube having an open inner end secured to said plenum, a closed outer end and a row of spaced apertures facing the material for directing the fluid thereon, and including an inner tube rotatably mounted in said outer tube having an open inner end, a closed outer end and rows of spaced apertures at different circumferentially spaced locations arranged to register with said apertures of said outer tube, one of said inner tube aperture rows extending the length of said outer tube aperture row, another of said inner tube aperture rows extending partially from the inner end towards the middle thereof and another of said inner tube aperture rows extending partially from the outer end towards the middle thereof, whereby the application of the treating fluid to the material can be controlled on varying widthwise zones thereof; and means accessible at the exterior of said outer tube for rotating said inner tube to select the apertures of said inner tube to register with the apertures of said outer tube.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there is still another row of inner tube apertures in the middle thereof for registering with the apertures of said outer tube.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said last mentioned means include indicia exteriorly visible for indicating the position of said inner tube apertures with respect to said outer tube apertures.

4. A fluid distributing head for directing the fluid onto material in web or sheet form comprising an outer tube having an open end for allowing fluid to enter said tube, a closed end, and a row of spaced apertures for directing the fluid onto the material; an inner tube rotatably mounted in said outer tube having an open end and a closed end respectively at the open and closed ends of said outer tube, and rows of spaced apertures at different circumferentially spaced locations arranged to register with said apertures of said outer tube, one of said inner tube aperture rows extending the length of said outer tube aperture row, another of said inner tube aperture rows extending partially from one end of said inner tube towards the middle thereof, and another of said inner aperture rows extending partially from the other end of said inner tube towards the middle thereof, whereby the application of the treating fluid can be varying widthwise zones of the material; and means accessible at the exterior of the closed end of said outer tube for rotating said inner tube to select the apertures of said inner tube to register with the apertures of said outer tube.

5. A fluid distributing head according to claim 4, wherein there is still another row of inner tube apertures in the middle thereof for registering with the apertures of said outer tube.

6. A fluid distributing head according to claim 4, wherein said last mentioned means include exteriorly visible indicia for indicating the position of said inner tube apertures with respect to said outer tube apertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 944,026 12/1909 Fowden. 1,613,521 1/1927 Martin 118-411 X 2,111,761 3/1938 Eckert 118-314 X WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

JOHN P. MCINTOSH, Assistant Examiner.

, US. Cl. X.R. 

